"As one of the biggest beneficiaries of economic globalization, China does not want to overthrow the existing international economic system; instead, it tries to make it better," Jin said.

Although the international community welcomes the rapidly emerging country to play a greater role on the world stage, it should act within its own capabilities, because it is still a developing country and its economy is far from large on a per-capita basis, he added.

In recent years, the dialogues and exchanges between China and the G8 have been increasing, said Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi at a press briefing shortly before the G8 Summit. In the long run, strengthening dialogues and cooperation between them will not only serve the interests of both sides, but also benefit the peace, stability and development of the world, he said.

A world of challenges

This year marks the midpoint to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Hu called on the international community to take this opportunity to further demonstrate political will and mobilize all resources to achieve the goals.

The MDGs are eight goals officially established at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, ranging from eradicating extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education.

African leaders attending the summit urged rich nations to keep their promises to assist the continent. Heads of state from seven African countries were invited to the Hokkaido summit.

In regard to the surging food prices, Hu said they are the combined result of many factors. To blame the development of developing countries for world food price hikes "does not tally with the facts," he said. The top priority now is "to scale up assistance, support the UN in playing its coordinating role, work to stabilize food prices and help the developing countries to tide over the difficulties," Hu said.

Food security is crucial to China's sustainable development, said Ding Yifan, Deputy Director of the Institute of World Development at the Development Research Center of the State Council. China's efforts to solve its food problem do not add pressure to, but contribute to food security in the world, he said.

China feeds about 20 percent of the world's population with some 9 percent of its arable land. For nearly 10 years, it has met over 95 percent of its grain demand on its own and exported a net amount of 8 million tons of staple grains such as wheat, rice and corn annually on average.